“Auntie, I can handle everything. You’ve already helped so much!”

Guan Hui E seemed certain Xia Da Jun wouldn’t come around anymore – Xia Xiao Lan suspected she had threatened him.

Initially, it was Guan Hui E who disliked Xia Xiao Lan, and now it was also she who protected and helped her. Xia Xiao Lan didn’t think Guan Hui E had split personalities; rather, she truly felt the sincerity of Zhou Cheng’s family.

There was also the more openly warm Grandmother Zhou and the stern but open-minded Grandfather Zhou.

No one had ever asked Xia Xiao Lan to give up her studies and career to manage Zhou Cheng’s household affairs. At most, they considered whether she and Zhou Cheng were compatible, but no one forced her to sacrifice her education and career for Zhou Cheng’s future… Xia Xiao Lan felt lucky – she’d found a young man to date, his family was wonderful, and she had already elevated him from boyfriend to marriage prospect. Guan Hui E would become a proper elder relative.

After some thought, Xia Xiao Lan told her about Xia Zi Yu coming to Pengcheng.

Guan Hui E pondered for a moment: “She came to find Xia Da Jun, but one person isn’t enough – we should get the other Xia family members here too.”

Wasn’t there still a grandmother who played favorites?

With more people, there would be more complications. With these people pestering Xia Da Jun, he would have no time to cause trouble for Xiao Lan.

Xia Xiao Lan was thinking about this too. If Xia Zi Yu knew Xia Da Jun was in Pengcheng, did the rest of the Xia family know? Xia Da Jun had earned some money but didn’t know how to spend it, and Xia Xiao Lan thought they should find people to help him spend it.

Once he realized the money wasn’t enough to satisfy the Xia family’s appetite, Xia Da Jun would focus on earning more rather than acting out a “father-daughter bond” drama.

After sending off Zhou Cheng, Xia Xiao Lan also saw Guan Hui E off at the airport.

Since she was already in Yangcheng, she needed to see Chen Xi Liang.

Chen Xi Liang didn’t know about her car accident. Though Xia Xiao Lan’s face had already begun to de-swell, Chen Xi Liang was still startled:

“Sister Xia, what happened to you?!”

“It’s nothing, just got hit by someone’s car. Looks scary but it’s only a scrape. How’s the store coming along?”

The ‘Luna’ store’s renovation in Beijing was almost complete, and there was another store in Yangcheng, where Liu Yong had sent Li Dong Liang to manage things.

“It’s hard to explain, Sister Xia. Let me show you around, including the office space we’ve rented.”

If Xia Xiao Lan returned to Shangdu, it would be uncertain when she’d come to Yangcheng again. It would be best to settle everything here at once. She had invested Zhou Cheng’s money and wanted to see where it had gone.

Chen Xi Liang had found an office close to ‘Chenyu Garment Factory.’ He was clever – Xia Xiao Lan held back her laughter:

“Are you trying to steal Manager He’s business?”

Those distributors who came to Chenyu for goods could easily turn the corner to Luna Fashion. Was Chen Xi Liang trying to skim some business from Chenyu?

Even more cunning was that the clothes were manufactured by Chenyu. Chen Xi Liang kept a tight watch on his brother-in-law, ensuring not a single copycat piece could leak from the factory – all shipments had to pass under Chen Xi Liang’s nose… No wonder he had managed to build his own business from among thousands of competitors.

Chen Xi Liang chuckled, “It’s a win-win. I asked my brother-in-law to partner up, but he refused, worried our brand wouldn’t sell.”

Xia Xiao Lan was exasperated. Those words were truly grating – if she didn’t know Chen Xi Liang was capable, she would have beaten him up just for saying that. Taking an investor’s money and then implying the investor was foolish!

Chen Xi Liang grew uneasy under Xia Xiao Lan’s meaningful gaze, gave a dry laugh, and led her upstairs.

Chen Xi Liang had commissioned a company sign that stood atop the small building. He had rented part of the space connected to Chenyu Garment Factory, a row of two-story buildings at the factory’s entrance.

“The building belongs to the factory. I paid to rent it – convenient for both office work and production, right?”

It was indeed convenient.

Xia Xiao Lan followed him around and found the place had been simply renovated, not left messy to save money.

Chen Xi Liang scratched his head: “Originally didn’t want to renovate, but worried distributors would be scared off if they came to the company.”

Luna was positioned as a mid-range brand, so a shabby company image wouldn’t be appropriate.

In business, Chen Xi Liang was naturally frugal. While Li Dong Liang was in charge of renovating the Luna store in Yangcheng, Chen Xi Liang had him paint the office walls too. The office furniture was bought second-hand, refinished, and repainted, and the floor was tiled – it looked quite presentable.

For an office in the 1980s, this setup was not embarrassing at all.

Boss Chen had even made himself an office that served both as his workspace and meeting room. A Chinese ink painting of galloping horses hung on the wall, creating a simple and elegant atmosphere.

The aesthetic sense was truly innate. Chen Xi Liang’s interest in fashion had developed his basic aesthetic sense, and he hadn’t used any tacky decorations.

Of course, this might also have been related to Boss Chen’s frugality during the early stages of entrepreneurship.

Besides the office, Chen Xi Liang had set up several workrooms. He had poached two fashion designers from other clothing factories, one male and one female, both under 30.

“This is the company’s other boss. Address her as President Xia.”

The two designers looked strange – their first meeting with President Xia, and she looked quite disheveled.

Xia Xiao Lan’s face was still swollen, but she didn’t care about the staff’s attitude toward her. She cared about their work progress: “How many finished products does the company have now?”

If they wanted to catch this year’s spring fashion season, they needed clothes to sell, right?

Chen Xi Liang led the two designers and took Xia Xiao Lan downstairs.

The first floor turned out to be a small showroom. When the lights came on, the brand’s initial clothing line was displayed on plastic mannequins, neatly pressed, with dozens of styles at first glance. Though the number of pieces wasn’t large, these were the prototypes – they needed sample designs before mass production.

Chen Xi Liang and the two designers had worked day and night to produce these samples before the new year.

Chen Xi Liang wanted Xia Xiao Lan’s approval. Despite her bandages, she examined each piece carefully. From the patterns to fabrics to color choices – Chen Xi Liang had originally started as an independent businessman in the garment factory, and countless styles had been wholesaled through him over the years. The fact that he was willing to show these to Xia Xiao Lan proved the clothes couldn’t be too ugly.

They were indeed quite attractive, with bold and beautiful colors. The spring collection featured bright color blocks that were eye-catching without being garish.

Chen Xi Liang not only showed Xia Xiao Lan the showroom but also the account books – how much money the company had spent so far, and employee salaries – he naturally needed to give Xia Xiao Lan detailed accounts.

Xia Xiao Lan didn’t decline. Testing human nature rarely ended well; rather than having disputes later, it was better to establish rules now. If Xia Xiao Lan wasn’t managing daily company affairs, couldn’t she at least look at the account books?

The showroom door was wide open. Just as she opened the account book, several people rushed in. A woman tried to grab Xia Xiao Lan, but she instinctively dodged backward.

“You vixen, how dare you gallivant around with Chen Xi Liang!”